Council takes on €3.8m pool project despite warning

DESPITE warnings of getting into another “Jeanie Johnson debacle”, Kerry County Council has agreed to guarantee a €3.8m State grant for a pool and leisure centre in Ballybunion.

The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism would only pay out the €3.8m for the €5m facility if the council undertook to repay the grant in the event of the project being a flop.

On the recommendation of head of finance John O’Connor and manager Martin Riordan, the council agreed the undertaking on a 17-5 vote.

The Jeanie Johnston cost the council and Tralee Town Council almost €6m over 15 years, with the two paying back €360,000 in annual loan charges.

Independent councillor Brendan Cronin, the only member to vote against funding the Jeanie project, opposed the guarantee for the Ballybunion pool.

He said: “We knew nothing about shipbuilding and are very inadequate in regard to swimming pools.”

However, Mr O’Connor recommended the guarantee be given as an “exceptional measure” and said the council would be represented on company structures. The project is being carried out by Bevely Ltd, a development firm in Ballybunion.